Full review

Currently, two models make up the Benivan family – the Benivan 120 and the Benivan 122. The 120 is the shorter of the two – and the model we’ll take a closer look at here – and is based on the 5.99m long-wheelbase Fiat Ducato panel van. Both feature layouts that are favourites among British buyers – rear lounges with side-facing sofas that convert into a transverse double bed or, in the longer 12 (which is 6.36m long) buyers have the option for either the double bed or twin single beds.

Other than that, the two models are the same and both are based on the 160bhp Fiat Ducato, which offers internal dimensions ideally suited to campervan conversion, including the possibility of transverse sleeping in that large double bed.

The base Fiat also features a very high standard specification. Buyers get the more powerful 160bhp engine as standard, and a six-speed manual gearbox, though there is an option for Fiat’s all-new nine-speed fully automatic gearbox.

That’s the only option, as the Benivan comes very comprehensively equipped as standard and everything else you may want is already fitted.

Both models are plated at 3,500kg, meaning anyone with a standard car driving licence can drive one and also meaning both have huge payloads of over half-a-tonne.

Prices start at £49,995 for the 120 and tops at £52,495 for the longer 122.

The Benivan 120 motorhome

The Benivan 120’s classic two-berth design, with a spacious rear lounge, remains a favourite among couples who have no need for rear travel seats in a motorhome.

The conversion has NCC approval and a specification that also includes a microwave, an underslung 25-litre gas tank, a 100W solar panel and Truma Combi 4kW dual-fuel heating.

Up front, both cab seats swivel, while a convenient low-level cabinet on the offside makes a useful surface for coffee cups, etc. It’s an ideal secondary seating area if your partner is a late riser!

The central kitchen has a Smev twin-burner gas hob with a combined oven and grill below and a stainless-steel sink unit. The worktop area at the forward end is supplemented by a hinged flap adjacent to the sliding door. The very light cabinetwork colour – called Mole – increases the feeling of space.

Opposite the galley, the washroom includes a swivel cassette toilet, a space-saving fold-down basin and mirror-fronted storage cabinet. There is a separate wall-mounted showerhead, rather than one that doubles up as the tap.

But it’s the rear lounge that is the reason to buy a campervan like this and moulded plastic trim panels here give a clean, functional appearance. The long settees give room for up to six to relax for an evening’s natter and scatter cushions are supplied for when there are just two of you and you want to stretch out.

Benivan and Marquis Leisure

Benivan - the campervan marque of Spanish motorhome manufacturer, Benimar – is sold exclusively in the UK by the Marquis Leisure network of 12 outlets covering most of England – from Golden Cross (Sussex), Poole and Plymouth in the south to Preston and County Durham in the north.

In Scotland, the marque is sold through Marquis’ partners, The Motorhome Company in Perthshire, while in Northern Ireland Camper NI has been appointed and Anchor Point in southern Ireland.

Unlike its coachbuilt siblings, this Spanish campervan range is actually built in the UK at Auto-Trail’s factory in the northeast of England.